Workers at a thrift store in Pennsylvania couldn’t believe their eyes after discovering someone had donated a Lego mask made from 14-karat gold.
The precious item sold for nearly $20,000 during an online auction, making it one of the greatest thrift stores finds in recent years.
Goodwill Workers Discover Rare Find
Searching for anything of value at a thrift store is a hobby for many Americans. Some find expensive clothing, others luxurious ornaments, but no one ever expects to come across anything made from real gold.
However, this became a reality for a group of workers in a Goodwill store in Dubois, Pennsylvania, who came across a small 14-karat golden mask.
Small Golden Lego Mask
Hidden among a box of random jewelry, workers noticed the small peculiar Lego mask, which immediately caught their attention.
Little did they know it could be worth thousands of dollars.
Golden Lego Mask
Jessica Illuzzi, the media and relations coordinator of Goodwill Industries of North Central Pennsylvania, spoke with a local CBS station in Altoona about the find.
“It came in a box full of random jewelry from the State College Store,” she said (via MSN). “So, it had already been processed through donations there.”
Workers Reveal Impressive Find
Workers later realized they had a rare 14-karat Bionicle Golden Kanohi Hau Lego Mask. Only 30 are known to have been made, according to a post the store made on Facebook.
“There are only 30 of these 14 K gold Lego pieces/pendants in existence. Some were given to Lego employees, and others were given out through a magazine contest in 2001,” they wrote.
Placing the Item Up for Auction
The golden Lego mask is around the same size as a silver dollar. Yet, its rarity led to considerable interest online.
The Pennsylvania store decided to list the item in an auction on its website.
Item Reached $33,000 In Original Auction
Once listed on auction, the golden Lego mask began climbing rapidly before peaking at an astonishing $33,000. However, it appears the final bid was made from a fake account.
“The last time this item was listed, the bidding got up to $33,000, but the final bid was from a fake account, so we thought the fairest thing to do was relist it,” Goodwill wrote on Facebook.
Golden Mask Listed for a Second Time
The Goodwill store decided to list the item a second time in hopes of allowing a collector to purchase the rare piece.
“While we don’t expect it to get that high again, it is still a very rare item,” they wrote.
High Hopes for a Sale
Vice president of e-commerce and technology at Goodwill, Chad Smith, had high hopes for the small golden mask.
According to the VP, Lego also made platinum and silver equivalents, which sold for several thousand dollars. Before the final bid, Smith admitted he would have been happy with $5,000.
Bidders Drive Up Price of Golden Mask
Once the mask was listed on Goodwill’s website, it attracted the attention of bidders from across the states.
Quickly, it went beyond Smith’s mark of $5,000 before jumping from $7,000 to $11,000 on Feb. 20.
Bidding Closes for Rare Golden Mask
The Lego mask didn’t stop climbing, and by the end of the auction on Feb. 21, the price had reached an astonishing $18,101, according to CBS Pittsburgh.
In total, around 48 people bid on the rare item in hopes of adding it to their collection.
The Lego Mask’s Gold Value
It’s still uncertain whether the original owner knew of the golden mask’s value before donating it to Goodwill.
Even without the rarity associated with its limited nature, the small masks weigh around 26.14 grams, and the value in gold is worth just under $1,000 alone.
